A Single GlanceNormal
by oh-demoted-short-one
Summary: She used to be dead, but when S7 finds a way to bring her back, even though she didn't want to come back, will the autobots be able to save her from herself?
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I, NekoYami, own no part of the Hasbro enterprises, and own none of the characters/plots/etc. of Transformers.**_

_**Author's Note:**__ I am taking this to a level more people are comfy with than the way I presented the poem edit of this^^ I've put a few chappies into normal format, so they should be easier to understand, and I hope you'll get into it more than the other one. Still, I will continue the poem AND standard of the story to appease my friend who likes comparing them, because one side might have something the other doesn't becasue it either didn't correllate well or I just din't like the way it went in the other way. Well, enough of my drivel, I give you, A single glance, standard edit^^_

_**A Single Glance- Standard Edit**_

She was being flayed. She could feel her skin crackling, peeling, ripping and tearing. She heard its sizzle as it burned off. Her fingers...she could see them...that couldn't have be en her hand. It was tipped in claws sharp enough to rend flesh, she could feel it. Or maybe that was the waves of heat she could see coming off of her arms. It was reminiscent of distant asphalt on a hot summer day.

Tears, hot and fresh, made tracks down her cheeks as she thought back on what she had lost. She'd once had a family. Her brother, her bear of a dog, her mom and dad. It had seemed, as of late, that noone had cared about her. She knew now that it had not been so, but was blaringly true now.

There was a man coming near, the look of a socially deprived scientist showing in the depraved gleam within his eye; not mentioning the lab coat he was almost drowning in, or the notes he was scribbling on a clipboard like one would see a desperate student doing to ace a final. He followed her movements carefully, enthusiastically. It would have crossed her as creepy as all hell if she weren't so focused on not coming apart at the seams.

She didn't continue to watch him watching her, and couldn't even if she had wanted to(which she didn't) as a new wave of flames swept up her legs. She felt the agony settle into her hip bones, blowing away any pains she could ever remember experiencing during any menstrual cycle. What she saw when she glanced down only served to alarm, confuse, and scare her further. There was still flesh peeling off, falling to the floor in little ribbons in a disgusting show of pink underflesh. But there was more underneath that... there was black metal, there, with purple veins lacing up and over the legs.

Finally, she lay exhausted, the feeling of pounding herupon the wall slowly leaving her head. But this also brought with it a clearing of her mind; a noticing of what was going on. 'But it makes no sense!' How could she possibly be alive, when the morning last she drank the poison down swiftly as though it were water and she a parched man. She knew it would be her brother who would find her. She had faintly heard him trying to call her name through the haze which seemed to distance her miles away from reality, and felt as dead weight already when he lifted her to his chest. That was when her life left her, hopefully she was dead before he realized she had lived to see him there.

The realization that she was now a test subject, brought back to a second life however it was done, brought renewed strength to her tears, and she was wracked by sobs as the memory of calm, warm darkness is destroyed forever. It is now a closed door, one more place she never retrun, and becomes nothing more than the memory it is. It is destroyed by this new life, her second creation, her cursed new existence at the hands of pure evil she can tell.

She's locked into life, she has to get out. Out of this place, back to the bright darkness she had started to call home, before it is shut to her forever. She claws at her own body, the sound of metal being attacked by ametal sounding off of opal walls. She tries to cry, to wail, 'LET ME GO!' but is suddenly bound against herself, restraints wrapped round her tight.

She screams, hollers, screeching. She has to get out; setthings right. To make this body like before, heavy with death, peace, but no. She'e now nothing but a frightened metal girl inside of a piercing white room. It's the flash of movement in her peripheral vision which causes her to glance up. There is a mirror on each wall - no, they ARE the walls, and a black visage gazes back at her.

In this one look, this single glance, she sees her future lain bare in her own eyes. She's trapped here, a mere guinea pig, a new toy. She will be tested and played with. Her life is forfeit, and she will eventually be cast aside. Her body died so long ago, and now, with a new black and purple her staring back, a shudder ripples through her as more sobs break free of the deafening silence she had remained in. And with a single glance, a single gesture, she withdraws upon herself. They wrack her body, shoulders heaving, and though she tries, they refuse to be held back.

_**Woot! Chappie one is up! I just have to type the other three I have, and at the same tie(in class of course) write the other FOURTEEN chapters I have done in poem form! **_

_**i'd like to know you're opinions, good bad, or hateful, so fling them my way through reviews! After all, the worst thing is you throw flames and I get to have a nice sleepover with my friends and we all tend the fire and roast marshmallows^^**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: Second chappie, and I got a reviewer! This chappie is for Silver!**_

_**Disclaimer: Still don't own Transformers, and even though they aen't actually in the story as of yet, I feel oblidged to put this on^^**_

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><p><em><strong>A Glance-Chapter 2-standard edit<strong>_

Her first conscious thought after, 'God, I feel like I was hit by a truck...' was 'Where the Hell am I?'. She couldn't see straight, she couldn't see shapes. The world was a spinning ball of shapeless colors and lights.

Finally, the world focuses and she meets a horrible realization head on. The dream- the nightmare was true! She's truly alive, not allowed peace. She blinks out the blaring lights, and turns upon her mind to examine her situation. She knows a few things only.

She knows that a time ago, she was a dead human is now a metal living being. Her existence shouldn't be, at least not anymore.

These thoughts are left for later contemplation when the sound of a deadbolt sliding back comes from the door. A seem appears for a moment on the other side of the room that she hadn't noticed, almost impossible to see, before mechanically sliding fully open.

She ffirst sees two heavily armed men stalk in, rifles in hand, fingers glued to the triggers. They wear thick kevlar, though weak as she feels, she knows that she could easily tear them apart, escpecially with a height of seven and a half feet to rise over them with.

From her place in the corner of the room, it takes a moment to actually see the one who walks in behind them. When she does, however, she shrinks back even more, pressing against the cold glass on one side and white washed metal wall on the other.

The one who has sauntered in behind the guards is the one who had witnessed her change, watched as her mind turned upon itself for answers, and had enjoyed her agony. His beady eyes leered at her and his hands twitched like a man about to steal a particularally beautiful car. When she met his eyes, her blood ran cold and fear settled sickeningly in her stomach. Nothing good come of this encounter.

A man walked in behind him, an assistant by the looks of it, holding something outside her field of vision behind one of the guards. He then scurried out of the room, eyes to the floor, and hands scarily empty.

Her attention is drawn back to the man who is now stalking towards her icily. He draws his hand from behind his back, kneels, and something obscured by his hands about three feet in front of her. When he moves back, she can see it is indeed a cube, filled about three quarters full of shimmering pink liquid. It looks like is has the consistency of water but it shimmers with a reflective quality reminiscent of only oil or gasoline.

He steps back, standing between the guards, and in a tone that expresses that he could care less about her, orders her to drink. She had no idea what that was, but it was pink and it was GLOWING, so it seemed best not to consume it. She stared at him, playing dumb as he expected her to be, and he took a step forward as if it would scare her into doing as he bid. That didn't work, in fact, it failed miraculously, only serving to send her reeling farther into the wall she was huddled in.

He stops up, and nearly spilling the liquid, thrusts the cube out, composure blown to bits. He shouts at her once more to drink, and she cowers in response. She wonders idly why exactly she's cowering. He's not that big, at least two heads smaller than she. She could crush him like a paper cup if she had a mind to, but his eyes seem to burn up her ability to think like a normal person used to standing up for herself. She feels the urge to cry.

He stands tall, or at least tries to, and snaps his fingers. Instantly, a guard is upon her. Gun thrown by the wayside, he takes pleasure in hauling her roughly to her feet. It's rough enough that her legs lock beneath her, and she cries out in pain at it. She feels dizzy, like she'd stayed underwater too long and had come up to breathe to fast, fighting a headrush.

The man is smiling now, closer to a grin, smirking at her in a way that makes she skin crawl, and he's walking towards her now, and she's got to get away! She tries to break away but suddenly the other guard is there, behind her, arms wrapped around her locking hers at her sides with an unknown strength. She grasps his arms with a grip of despiration, and keeps her grip if only to have something to hold onto as tight as she can.

She squirms and squeaks as the scientist treks towards them silently, leisurely. She can tell, when he stops in front of her, that he must have wished to this to her, hoped for the chance to watch her pain once more.

The pressure that her exerts through his grip on her jaw is great for one so small in comparison to her. He doesn't seem strong but he is obviously so if he can wrench her face down with such ease. But these contemplations, like the others, are cast from her mind when she turns her mind to more important uses, such as fighting with all her might to wrest her arms fromn the guard behind her.

Her struggles become more fierce when her mouth is forced open. She lets a shriek escape her control and feels the arms binding her only tighten. The sound cuts off abruptly when something enters her mouth. It tastes of rubber with the texture of smooth tubing. The tube is forced down her throat, and though she feels no gag reflex in her throat like there should be, her stomach truns frighteningly. It was scraping the back of her throat viciously, tearing the softer metal of it raw.

The heaviness of something making its way through the tube has her eyes widen in panic and fright. Her only way of retaliation is to wriggle weakely and whimper pathetically. The offending drink is warm when it hits her raw throat, and she gasps at the realization. The shock continues as the feeling of becoming full reaches her. The haze brought by the warmth of the pink liquid is dulling her to thw world around her. Her mind is losing the sharp clarity of consciousness, and she is sorely tempted to fog that has somehow surrounded her body and mind. But there is still the matter of her compay. The man is staring at her, a look of sickening triumph on his face. She has no more power to hold herself up, and the guards only just catch her full weight when her legs give out from under her. Almost eye level, she can see the victory shining in his eyes, and can see that he'll want it to be there again, though she can tell it will never again be from such an encounter that is beneficial to her.

The man lingers for a few moments more, bathing his ego in her pain once more. At last he turns and considers for a moment before snapping his fingers sharply. The guards snap up, dropping her like a heavy sack in a heap at their feet They move around her, though the taller of the two gives her a swift kick to the side on his way by. They lift their guns, and without a glance back at her, leave the room empty but for the living mass of black and purple metal near the right corner of the room.

As her mind shuts down, and black encroaches on her vision, tears break the ridge of her eyelids and find their way down her cheeks. She finally relinquishes control of her consciousness, and in an escape that is far to brief, lets the warmth envelope her mind and bring her sleep.

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><p><em><strong>That's number two of the standard edit^^ You might be noticing some differences in the two versions, and yesh I did edit it some! I also edited some of the other chapters to come, and with AIMS going on, I have plenty of time to write these when I finish my test early!<strong>_

_**Also per usual, I hope you enjoyed the story thus far, and hope to hear from you!**_

_**-NekoYami-**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: This is a long time in coming, I know, but before you bludgeon me with bricks, know that my time HAS been used somewhat well. I've now gotten to about the O or P point in my story, which is how I number the chapters.(believe its easier than 1, 2, 3...). But that still doesn't excuse my late update, so I will let you choose to hate me or not(not like I can stop you.)**_

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><p><em><strong>A Glance: Chapter 3-standard edit Complete 31-3-11<strong>_

She drifts back to consciousness with a groan of pain. Light is sparking painfully behind her eyelids-must have been left over from that last electro shock they did. 'That one was a doozy...' The usual dull ache was now a low ripping sensation in her arms and lower legs. The damn restraints hurt.

But aside from the normal pain, getting over the day's events was getting harder and harder. The shocks were getting stronger, and the cuts were getting deeper. The fire was left against her longer, the acid left a few seconds more each time. The experiments were becoming more brutal and escalating at an exponential rate. Before long her body, and mind as well, would shatter.

She had known for a long time now, or at least it felt that way, what her new fate was to be. She was trapped, and used for all kinds of tests, merely a lab rat. They hit her with various chemicals, usually varying strengths and types of acids. Little drops had ascended to spatters, and then direct spilling. Her thigh was still warped from it. Then they moved on to cutting her, not expecting the various blades and metals(even their strongest titanium alloy) to barely scratch her new rougher hide. They resorted to diamond blades and laser, which while effective, took alot of precision to use. It had been the worst time of her new life to lay cut open on a table for three days(she approximated with the shifts that the guards and lab techs took), wounds pooring, then oozing blue blood.

It hadn't been long before she totally silent, her voice gone from screeching anyway. This was not the only thing greatly weakened. Her body was, of course, decimated, and she barely moved when shen she was pushed back into her 'room' each day. The lack of energy and the way they made her use her reserves in trying not to cry out left her bone weary and exhausted. Her will was dying, her hopes of living much longer waning.

The strange empty place near her heart ached a bit. That hollow feeling had been there since she had woken in this place. It wasn't hunger, though that was a constant companion(on of her only) as well. This was a blunt feeling, unlike the sharp sting of hunger. It was raw, like an open wound. She was missing something inside her, a part of her heart almost. And she felt the urge to cry out sometimes, from a pain she knew was not physical, not of her actual body. It felt silly to think, but it was almost like part of her soul wasn't there, lost, just like when she was little and she couldn't find her mother at the mall. But there was noone here to help her, none who would even if they were because she wasn't normal now. She was a wierd, strange, living metal girl, not of flesh but wire and plates.

But something other was in her. There was a bit of her that kept screaming out 'Hurry! Please, Gods, Hurry! You Don't Have Long!' in an odd desperation that she couldn't place. The feeling was kind of scary, because it didn't feel like her but at the same time it was wholly her. She didn't know what the purpose of this was, or who it was telling to hurry but at times, huddled, she felt she might go mad when the feeling took over and she quivered in shock of its strength, the feeling of longing for _**something,**_ something that wasn't there but should have been.

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><p><em><strong>Yeppers, there's three! I made some changes as I was typing, like switching some words around or adding a sentence here and there. Nothing big, but I think it helped the story. And She's goin mad, can you tell why? Haha, maybe not, but things get alot clearer in the next few chapters, which I'm already typing. See, when I update, I update in bulk^^ And I started putting up the date of when I wrote the chappie. <strong>_

_**Would you let me know if something isnt clear? or you have any comments? I won't beg for reviews or make you to put up a new chappie but I like to know how people feel about the story, whether I'm headin' in the right direction or not. Thanks guys^^** -**Neko**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**That last one was shorter than I thought, but I have enough here to type alot of those, and it should keep me and you occupied for a if I sound a bit...testy. My younger brother is being a bit of an ass.**_

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><p><em><strong>A Glance: Chapter 4-standard edit Completed Apr. 1 '11<strong>_

As time went on, short or long she had no idea, she came to resent her new existence something fierce. She, at first, had fostered hopes of escape, knowing that she stood a bit of a chance if she really tried. She was dark enough to blend in with the concrete walls if she stayed in the shadows, and there were plenty of those what with the dim lighting in most of the halls(except the labs, which were always stark white white white). She was also large enough to overpower those who might actually have spied her skulking around. These hopes died when she thought of how things might go when she got out. What would she do? There were none like her, she reasoned, as she'd neither heard of any from the guards or lab techs, seen any like her, or heard the screams that came with the testing implimented daily. The there was the other elephant in the room every time this track of thought struck her, where would she go, how would she survive? She had no idea what the pink fluid was that kept her alive, but sje it was definately not naturally occuring on Earth.

That always brought her thoughts back to the place she now knew, and in turn, her fears to the surface. She hated it, despised the place for the lies it reaked of. Those filthy things that infested her too for her place here. Hell, she was probably MADE of those horrible lies! She wished they would all rot, to be perfectly brutally honest.

It wasn't like she didn't know what she was. She may have been physically changed by the process but her mind was essentially the same as when she had lived as a human. She still knew english despite her her inability to articulate due to the completely different communacative system that was rested in her throat. She was a hybrid, neither human nor robot, for her mind was hers-a human mind.

She was brought; dragged back, using an ancient energy. This was something old, she could feel it in her bones, it was something older than humans all together. They shouldn't have had it, should have heeded an instinct even she felt not to mess with it. It was something beyond their ken, larger in power than all humans have ever known. Yes, she knew. She was dragged through it when she came back. She was steeped in that power, had tasted it before she could taste and knew it lingered within her, marginally. It was something more than we(they) should know...

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><p><em><strong>This was a filler I made a while back, to give me time to make the plot work again, because it was hard as hell to translate this chapter from a poem to a standard. I had to cut out a really nice part of it, and then I had to rewrite most of the next chapter to fit that back in in a way that made sense and stlll sounded ok. I hope it worked. And, you'll notice later, that F is uber tiny, but the next is bigger than usual so I think it's ok.-Neko!<strong>_


	5. Chapter 5

_**This is where things start to get rolling, and after this long I'm glad. It's been pretty dark and kinda vague up until ow, but I think it's high time fro some nice plot! mmm, look at that plotty goodness, enjoy!**_

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><p><em><strong>A Glance: Chapter 5-standard edit Complete Apr. 1 '11<strong>_

The latest round of fitfull sleep ended as they all did. Her eyes tried to stay open, and she shut them once more. It was the light, or lack thereof, that made her mind snap like a rubberband. The lights were gone, well, the white lights were gone. In their place, a pink light was flashing. The walls were flashing. No, that wasn't right... There were little red lights set in the very seem where the wall met the ceiling on either side of the room, she realized with a start. She'd never noticed them there before now. They were casting strange glows on the walls, especially in the reflections of the mirrors that served as the right and left side walls.

The dark blink on and off of the lights was startling, and she felt her heart speed up in fright. It was ridiculous, she thought to herself, she was jumping at shadows and being scared of the dark was something for small children. The logic didn't stop her heart racing though, and if anything, it made things worse. She sat like that for a long time, her body never relaxing, and it even tightened further when something strange occured. Sound came from past the blankness of her door. This in itself was cause for worry, for her room was supposedly soundproof (something she learned while shamelessly eavesdropping on the guards one night to distract her from the burns up along her arms) inside and out. That was why there was a P.A. in the top left corner of her room.

The sounds were disturbing, but distinct. They were the sounds of yelling, shouts of panic, and the rapport of shots! She could hear the dreadfully familiar hiss of nitrogen gas being let loose from canisters. Nitrogen leaving freezing burns. She curled up upon herself to become a ball of shaking metal. Her scars came to life, starting to ache with phantom pain. It was like the pains that amputees felt from limbs long amputated, that of nonexistent wounds. Blue tears welled up and over for the first time in so long, streaking her face in flourescent turquoise drops and tracks. If anyone had taken a look at her then, they would have seen a mask of terror at the noise invading the room, coming closer and closer. And she expected when the door burst open, but still flinched in panic all the same.

The men skulked in with their guns held aloft, and yelled for her to come with them. Her minds told her to do as they bid, but she was in as much control of her body as a dead man. She stayed shock still, until they at lastmoved forward and grasped her by the arms. She was half hauled from her position, half drug, and lead from the room to find that the walls outside her room were washed in a darker red than those of her white walls. What seemed to be an earthquake shook them and and she found the ability to let out a squeaky wail. The banging from far down the halls and somewhere behind them was continuing and her wails were rising in pitch with each subsequent bang until her captors were fed up. One of them lashed out with his gun, the butt of it whipping across her cheek and creating sparks in its wake. She gave a faint whimper, a silent plea not to be hit again, and also in response to the crashing that was almost upon them now.

A blast erupted all around her and she was pushed(dropped) flat on the ground. One man still had hold of her arm, the other had a hold of his gun in preparation while the wall in front of them continued to be wrecked from the other side. A third, last, incredible blast was all it ook, and in a creak of breaking rebar in the wall, it burst forward, bucking and breaking outward towards them. It finally crumbled under the forces acted upon it after valiently taking the beating. It flushed the hall into a dense fog of dust and debris. She started to wheeze when the dirt and rock made it in to clog her lungs and systems.

Gunfire filled her senses and unnatural lights blew out on all sides. Rock; concrete made contact with her metal hide, leaving scratches where it met here. There was the clogging musty scent of dust floating in the air surrounding her and she felt it get further into her systems, blocking the air that should have been going through instead. Any would-be trills she tried to bring forth were forced out as horrible, painful grinding sounds from the rock stuck within her gears.

She was suddenly wrenched from her position on the floor to her feet, an arm coiled tightly around her neck and and a gun to her head. The guard screamed at the assailant to stop where they were, and surprisingly, the sounds of their approach stopped. She tweeted softly, trying not to cry though tears were slowly streaking her face anyway. Her efforts were rewarded with a swift knee to the middle of her back, which almost made her legs give out once more, and a jab in the side of the head with the muzzle of the gun. A growl could be heard, low and deep from somewhere near them though she couldn't pinpoint the location exactly.

A single shot rang out and the grip around her throat tightened painfully for a moment before it loosened to its original strength. The guard yelled out his threats to kill her(It) if any moves were made, and for a moment she panicked, thinking he would follow through in moments. Was she brought back to life just to live through obvious torture and violenc just to be shot dead by a man who sought just to save himself?

Her shaking intensified with each word, and each thought brought more fuel to the fire in turn. Once more that growl came out of the shadows and the dust that had yet to settle from the wall's explosion.

A flash of unnatural wind, displaced air, went by her head and then it was over. At first nothing happened. Then, the grip on her tightened and then it was simply...gone. He slumped back, a cry of pain gurgling in his throat through what sounded like blood(she shouldn't have known that sound...) before falling silent forever more. She still had her eyes shut firmly against the whole scene, and with a heave of air that was thinly drawn out, her legs gave out beneath her. The only support keeping her up was that soldier. And finally a sob was able to rip its way through the dust and dirt and grit and it shattered the air in a rush of emotion. Her voice cracked horribly halfway through, and failing in that, she slumped down on her knees, falling into silent taers of fright.

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><p>Her mind was jumbled together. The floor was cold beneath her and time was mixing into a giant puddle, losing meaning for a long while. Mere seconds might have passed, or maybe hours too had elasped. It was all an eternity to her. She knew that heshe/it/thing was still there, out of sight but absolutely not out of mind. She also knew it was watching her and the body nearby.

The thought made her, too, aware of the corpse that was so close at hand. She did not need to look to know what she would find there. If open, the eyes would be as glass; blank, and its skin cold to the touch. Though she feared the body still, she was struck in her place with fright, and unable to move of herown volition.

She only noticed the presense of the other, lifting her away from the blood that was still slowly flowing away from the own who it had once given life and now towards her, when she yelped in terror and tried to hop away. This did not succeed in freeing her as she had fruitlessly hoped it would. Those hands held her captive easily and without exerting any pressure at all. They were immense, and she sat ensconced in them with room to fit another of her size.

When she was not able to halt her shuddering, quivering in fear, she was lifted high and pressed against warm chest plates. She was held there and she let the tears fall unbidden. They were of fear, true. Fear of the past, her life before. Fear of the present, of what she was pressed against. And lastly, fear the future, that unexplored field, those events to come. And maybe, just maybe, a few of those glowing aquamarine tears were of a very different, glimmering emotion. One she hadn't known in so very long that she didn't dare think of it and was scared to feel it.-Hope.

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><p><em><strong>From the line down was F, which I decided was too small for a chapter on its own, especially when I've had people ask me to make the chapters longer. that makes this my longeest chapter yet I believe, with about 3 pages of typing in. But just wait till I get to I think it's L or M. That has 8 pages .<strong>_

_**Hate me yet?^^ Haha, I'm sorry, but that's where that chapter left of when I wrote it, and yes, I have another ready to put up.I'll just type that and slip it in. But first, I'd like to say that this was one of THE faves of mine to write into standard. It was actually the inspiration for me to do the standard edit!**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**I'm thinking of seaming some chapters together with smaller, one page I? If you don't want them this size(and want them bigger than this one) than just lemme know and I'll have no problems sewing them in with each other to add length. But know, that'll make there be less chapters than I have on paper, so it'll be a bit skewed when I say H or whatever. Since I put F with E, I now have one less chapter, but I don't relly regret that, since that wasn't a full page.**_

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><p><em><em>_**A Glance: chapter 7 standard edit Completed Apr. 5 '11**_

~~~!~~~

Her eyes hurt and her tears were dry on their own. She coundn't help that tiring, though it did dull the terror a bit. She was still scared motionless, unable to move on her own, and she had been for a while. At least it felt like a while. And even if she could move, she didn't know what she would have done. She was clasped to the chest of what could only be an immense version of her. The shock itself sent her reeling and scared her out of her wits.

Questions pulsed too fast to focus on through her mind, and she found it painful to try, or think at all for that matter. Her voice was still gone, so communication was impossible, unless he knew sign, which she seriously doubted he did because it was a form of english and he wasn't human and...that was flawed logic but she was damned if she wasn't allowed a little flawed logic after this whole ordeal.

He shifted her then, ans she saw him at last through slightly shaking hands. He gazed at her and she could make out his eyes, an electric cerulean. Despite the glow cast by his eyes, she couldn't really make out the features of his face. This might have been caused by the hands she was still holding in front of her face, and they were shaking almost uncontrollably, and her eyes were weak from all the crying. To complicate matters, she still had blue droplets blearing her vision.

A deep humming was coming from somewhere in front of her, and it settled through her, calming her otherwise violent shaking. It was so wierd to her; her fright was lessening drastically with every moment and she felt safer and safer with each moment that hum kept up. Finally she couldn't take it any more and widening her fingers a bit, she succeeded in steadying them and seeing more. She looked up again, and bright, glowing blue eyes met brown, gold speckled ones. It was like this for a moment, which passed slowly and startlingly quickly at the same time, and then she was retreating, shutting her hands over her face again and bowing her head away.

He took it on as a mission of sorts, it seemed, to get her to look at him once more. He did all he could, crooning at her softly(so much softer and gentler than that growl...). He twittered at her, beeped, and clicked encouragingly. He managed to lure her slowly, her face inching up bit by bit. The next glance lasted longer, and she was rewarded with the sound of a deep clear laugh emitted from deep within him.

She was lifted to be on eye level with him, and their eyes did meet. Her fear was not gone, but no longer was it an oppressing weight on her being. She still sat in his hands, not really having any knowledge of what to do next. It was obvious that she was painfully used to commands and cues...

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><p><em><strong>~~!~~!~~<strong>_

_**I checked my traffic for this story, and of the NINETY-FIVE visiters on the 15th, only one reviewed. AND NONE OF THE SIXTY-FIVE FROM TODAY...Damn that's sad... Can you guys at least let me know if I'm doing ok or not?What do yo think of the story so far, is it bad? And does anyone have any hint at who it is she's near?^^ There are hints in the next chapter, of him and some others^.~ So sit tight!-Neko**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**This took a while to get out only because I wanted to post this and the next chapter at the same time. Sorry about that, but the thought struck me while I was typing this^^**_

_**This chapter goes out solely to Forever Dreaming Grace, who gave me THE best review I've gotten thus far, thank you Grace!**_

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><p><em><strong>A Glance: chapter 7 standard edit Completed: Apr.15 '11<strong>_

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The moment shattered after but an instant, it seemed. They both stiffened with a start; one on guard, the other guarded. She heard-more like felt-the vibrations of the new one's steps. They made this one seem small, insignifigant in their might. And then he was in view.

He was huge, and it was hard to believe they could get _**bigger**_ than the one she was currently held by. His body reflected the red lights back purple and red, indicating a true coloring of blue and red armor. A large grey and red sword was drawn and held at his side. The edge and tip seemed tinted crimson, not with blood, but in a was that looked natural on the alien armament. It was as though it were glowing the red from inside.

As he came closer, her prescense dawned on him and he looked at her with bewilderment. The little whistle he let out was faint, even to her enhanced hearing, but it sent her reeling back. She withdrew back into the chest plates that were behind her and settled only when the hum from her black knight went through her. He chittered at her softly, beckoning her sweetly to look out once more.

It occured to them sadly that she was acting like they were to be feared. It broke them down to know she was so used to pain, cues, anger, and fright. It infuriated them, and made even their noblest wish harm to any who would hurt one so young. They all held these dark thoughts close abreast, but this was a half effort and they could not find it in themselves to care even if they were discovered. To cut her off, out of the world so entirely that her whole life was misery...

Her sight was suddenly invaded by a mass of bright chartreuse metal. The surprise of it, the sheer brightness of it, was enough to make her dizzy, and it was only made worse by the fact that when she looked up, she found out it was one of them. Sapphire eyes gazed at her, softly, but intensely.

She was unsettled by that-the intensity. It made her scared of what might happen, because more often than not, that kind of intensity meant that there was some kind of experiment on its way that would be resoundingly painful. Panic set a lump in her throat and tears in her eyes. She couldn't tell, or possibly know, that he was only searching for the hurts and sensibly screamed when he reached towards her.

It was a big mistake, they all knew immediately, when she recoiled as if he had threatened to strike her and fell strangely silent. She was making little hiccuping sounds, as though trying to stay quiet. And they were set on edge when she stiffened, obviously bracing herself against an attack that was not to come. Was she, it couldn't have been...had they actually trained her to make no sound for fear of being harmed!

The one she was held by stroked a finger down the little one's back, asking without words for her to calm. He met her eyes and shushed her slight sounds, asking her to trust him in this. It wasn't that easy to do, though so easy to ask. She whimpered just a bit, a war going on within her over whether to do it or not. He coudld have killed her at any time already, as shown by the body still below them. But he had not, chose to save her, to embrace her. She had to trust him, she realized. It was not a choice she knew she had already made.

And with that, she turned outwards again, away from her haven, to look at the bright one once more. She stiffened when he reached out, but did not pull away. He kept eye contact with her and it was only when he had grazed her arm with a fingertip that the contact broke, by both to look down. She came to the realization with a gasp that he was touching one of the few spatters of blood that adorned her left side. He moved, and the drop smeared into a dark burgandy smudge.

Emboldened by the ability to hold herself together when he was near, she placed her hand flat on his finger. He gasped at her, startled by the brazen action after just starting to overcome her fear. She still held that overpowering trait-curiousity. And like the old saying went, sure, curiousity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

She sat patiently, and he moved away in a moment's time. He turned away, an a unique little ~~POP~~ pervaded the air before he turned back, looking now at her keeper. He whirled at him slowly, as thoguh speaking carefully, as not to cause an upset. When no reply or action was made to his...words? he repeated himself, just a bit faster and louder. With still no reply, he deemed it necessary to take matters into his own hands and do what he needed without permission.

He moved in the blink of an eye, and when she opened her eyes, she found herself within HIS palm, seated on brightly colored metal. She panicked, a pulse of terror bubling up through her and her still intact fight or flight instinct kicked in. The flight was discarded-the fall alone would kill her, let alone the giants in her prescence. Her fight instinct roared through her triumphantly, and she began beating on her captor. Small arms flailed, and tiny legs kicked, scratching and denting the hand that she was enclosed in.

It shifted around her to a hold of restraint, wrapping long fingers around her firmly, but gently. She turned her immobilization into another weapon, her voice. She let loose a string of glass cracking shrieks and long lingering wails. Before long they were all wincing, her barrage as effective as it was with humans, if not more so.

Her mind vaguely brought her sign that something was touching her neck, searching fro something in the space where her neck and shoulder met. It was prodding, and she hastily turned to see it was the other hand of the bright one. His eyes flashed knowingly on something near her collarbone. Though she recoiled, lashed hopelessly with her still bound arms, he still managed to get to her. She felt the pinch of something in her neck, and with a gasp of shock and slight pain, she lost her connection to the waking world.

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><p>~~~!~~~<p>

_**Haha, he went kinda nerve pinchy on her! I think this was one of THE most evil chapters to date, because I wrote parts of it in 3rd person PRESENT TENSE, while I wanted to have it in the 3rd person PAST tense. Ugh, I even lost some of the stuff I put in. Remind me to keep an eye on that.**_

_**At least I got htis done, and it's time for the fun one next. She's finally out! Can you guess now who she's with? I dropped some pretty big hints, especially giving you the colors of them!**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**So she's out of there?yesh, finally. And now she gets the pleasure of waking up from a medically induced recharge! ^0^ Ahhh, So fun.**_

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><p><em><strong>A Glance: chapter 8 stanard edit Completed: Apr 15. '11<strong>_

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She felt the pull of sleep lessen and though the consciousness was almost all just thought, she found the strength to shift around a bit. Her meanering thoughts strayed back to the dream. It was so vivid, and terrifying, and amazing. She'd been saved, at last, from the clutches of the ones she knew to be her creators. Those two horrid gun wielding guards were gone, disposed of by a savior clad in black armor.

She groaned in discomfort at the wanly empty feeling settled within her stomach. It was a familiar feeling that kept her awake most of the time. She had become accustomed to it, and with a sound of disquiet, curled up around her middle to try and minimize the pain. Her movement halted when the ground moved around under her.

The occurance ended in her opening her eyes, and when they landed on the very one she had dreamt of (but now she was starting to doubt whether it was dream and not reality after all...) her eyes almost bugged out of her head. It came to mind that she shouldn't have been so surprised, because if she had still been confined then they would have already come to end whatever rest she was getting to start testing. It was not like them to give her time to dwell on things like hunger or...anything.

She sat up in a rush of memory, the other night(day?) coming to the forfront of her mind. But she found herself laying down once more in an instant. Her further efforts to rise from her place were met with the same end. She was left in the same position,; laying on her back, muscles tense as though she were prepping for an escape and a large black hand gently restraining her. Wait. Black hand! She gave the metal limd a cursory look, then looked up at the it belonged to.

She was met with a comforting face looming in her vision that made her want to burst with joy. She exclaimed in what could have been shock, but was more or less bewilderment. There he was, the one she had mourned for the fact that he was but a dream and now he wasn't- her giant black savior! Her movements ground to a halt, and she stilled her struggles under his gaze.

She let her heart pund with joy at the revalation that she was finally rid of that hellhole. Her core itself seemed to sing with joy at every further thought that bastards had gotten their own. If she were free to do so, she would have had no qualms about doing a happy victory dance on the spot, or at least jumped with absolute joy like a fool. But she couldn't do that, what with being pinned down between two hands and all. So she settled for letting out some tears of happiness to streak down her face. They did the dancing for her, zig-zagging down her checks before falling with a small plop onto the palm that was supporting her.

The change in the mech? was instantaneous. He obviously thought she was in pain or upset, for he moved his hand away as though the touch burned him. Then she was shifted into the cup of both hands, like one might hold a baby bird or a sparrow with a broken wing. He pulled her to his chest and hummed softly to her, wiping away the tears as they came. When he moved to wipe a fresh tear from her cheek, she reached for him and brought the finger back. She held on with an iron grip. He was shocked, but allowed her this, if it meant she took comfort from him, and not despair.

She kept her hold on him for the entirity of her crying jag, droplets falling unbidden, and emotions finally breaking the walls of the carefully constructed enclosure within their bearer. It didn't take long in her already weakened state to tire out. Her hold on ebon fingers slackened, and finally went lax as she went limp. It was just like when she was human, and normal, that the exertion a good cry takes to let out all the emotions burned her down. She went froma stranglehold to boneless frighteningly quick, and it startled her when she found herself lain back once more against his fingers. Her body was stiff, and tired. She could already feel her body shutting down, and her eyes were already half shut. She gave a small whimper when a clear pain of emptiness shuddered through her abdomen, somehow resonating out through her arms and legs.

He seemed to know what was wrong this time, and through her semi disconnected haze, she was still in tune enough to comprehend the ring of a distinct ~~POP~~ hitting the air. He had heard that before, she was sure. Yes, she realized, it was once before, right before Bright had grabbed her and everything went to an upsidedown hell ina handbasket. This time, she can see what is being held up, and mentally rejoices, not having the physicaly strength to make the motions other than to give a small chirp. Wonderfully, she glances at the large cube that is held aloft by the giant with something akin to awe.

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><p><strong><em><span>Erm...Not really anything to say at the end of this one, other than don't kill me for the cliffy?<span>_**

**_I hope you enjoyed!_**


	9. Chapter 9

_**AN:Ah yes, the dreaded update. I'm sorry for the wait. I've had to take some time to..plan some things. Parents are having some serious fights(that involve talk of divorce...) And I've had to scrap plans for my sweet sixteen to make plans to go to florida with my little brother(who is NOT cooperating in any way shpe or form despite my extention of countless olive branches) and visit my older brother for about two weeks a single day after my birthday and having to miss my best friend's sweet sixteen (which is the damn day after I leave). **_

_**Matters are only compounded by the fact that we will have to stop in Carolina once(an hour long layover), and I've never flown, let alone by myself or with a bitchy little brother hasseling me, so I'm overwhelmingly nervous concerning that. But I'll just have to make do and I'm absolutely sorry if my writing reflects that in terms of update frequency. Please forgive me?**_

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><p><em><strong>A <strong>__**Glance: Chapter 9 standard edit(Completed 4-15-11)**_

_**~!~!~**_

When he gestured for her to open her mouth by opening his own, she was only too delighted to comply. He smiled at her, and that made her brighten even more. When the drink finally touched her mouth her tongue was alight in happiness. It was euphoirc the way the warmth spread through her, energizing her limbs. It also had a funny way of dulling her senses, and filled her heavily.

He worked this way for a time, unerringly pouring just a bit at once and waiting until she was ready for another sip. The lilting sweetness within the current of pink liquid was a tingle, and she found it quite nice. It was also as though there were little sparks of electricity where the energy flowed inside her tiny body. With what she was now, she found it absolutely plausible.

She was pleasantly full after a while, and she had long lost a clear perception of time. She was sure she was full and when he offered a bit more of that pink, sweet drink once more, she became astounded at herself that she turned her head away and yawned. It was a monster of a yawn, too, and she stretched out as far as she could before curling up slightly into the suddenly remarkably warm and soft metal of the hand that was practically encapsulating her.

When she looked up lazily, she finally caught sight of the disappearance of the cube in a small bubble accompanied by that POP of displaced air she was quickly becoming familiar with. Somewhere inside her, she vaguelly recalled the fact that she should have been a bit discomforted and more than a little panicked by his ability to make things just disappear but a the moment, she couldn't bring the will together to be so. In all terms, the sight registered quite dully in her mind, in a way reminiscent of the way one recognizes thunder in the far off distance but does not react to it because it's not in a place where it could be considered a defining factor in anything one will do or experience soon. Her senses were rapidly dulling; to the point where things were not being noticed much at all, and she was barely aware of the fact that soon she be very much _**UNaware**_. Explosions could have lit the place up like so many fireworks on the fourth of July and she would have been none the wiser.

She turned over into the crook between two of the fingers she was laying against, and gently nuzzling into them, she started to doze. And each second her eyes were shut brought her deeper and deeper into the best sleep she'd ever had-especially since her awakening into this new world. Her last conscious feeling from the world she was slipping from was the shift of her perch to the chest she was swiftly becoming to know as her protector's, but she was fully gone before it was comprehended.

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><p><em><strong>~!~!~<strong>_

_**Whew. I'm going to forgo my normal, "wait till I've got two chapters typed before I post" approach because:**_

_**A)I want you guys to know I'm still here before you give up**_

_**B)I want to apologize for the late update with this lil peace offering**_

_**C)I definately WON'T have time to get the whole next chapter typed, even at my fastest pace**_

_**I want you guys to know that the next chapter is THE longest one I have written at all in the whole translation from poem to was originally a two page poem chapter, and somehow I turned it into about 7 or 8 pages of print in standard edit.**_

_**. oops? No, I think You'll like it.I didn't even realize I'd written so much till I was organizing the next chapter after that. Lemme know if you like it, and if you'll forgive me?Thanks guys!**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**The big chapter is here!I'm excited about this one! Haha! This is THREE TIMES the size of most chapter! It has almost 4000 words, as opposed to the normal 1000 or so. Hope its ok being longer! It not I can refrain from making huge chapters later on.**_

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><p><em><strong>A Glance: Chapter 10 Standard Edit(Completed 4-20-11)<strong>_

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Her mind snapped to attention like a rubber band when her body had finally had enough of sleep. She thrummed with energy, and she knew that further attempts at sleep were out of the question completely. She wondered for a moment what that phrase meant, "out of the question". Why out of the _**question**_? If someone asked someone for something and the other person refused, wouldn't it be out of the _**answer**_? It made absolutely no sense! She broke that useless train of thought before it managed to break HER to observe her surroundings at long last.

She was still laying under the black one's palm, though she was upon his chest plates now. She could feel the warmth of something under those plates heating her back in calm pulses. She thought about staying there, and trying to calm down, try to lounge for the time being while she had the chance(never take them for granted...never) goodness knew what would happen when they were both awake, her time at that...facility had taught her to never waste chances. But she had just too much energy, it was coursing through her at an almost painful rate. The thought of staying still much longer hurt. But how to get away!

She shifted her focus onto the hand resting across her body, not heavy, but keeping her lower body pinned down quite effectively. It kept her legs and most of her torso warm like a down blanket. When she subtly shifted her legs experimentally in a movement common to turning on one's side, the hand moved almost of its own accord with her. She cursed this mentally. She had hoped for freer movement from it. She hadn't wanted to risk it, but she wanted to get down, and if this worked she'd get her way. She was almost sorry for him, but she was damned if she was gonna stay cooped up like a little kid.

She cried out soundly pushing the hand down and away. Her guard jumped under her, eyes flickering on and scanning the room in a quick sweeping motion like lightning. It took him a moment to realize it was the little one in his hands that was squirming in her sleep, trying to push him away from her. He hushed her, but she would not have any of it, and kept squirming, trying to get free.

For her part, she didn't know how this would get her free, but she was angry, and wanted to be heard. And heard she was. He was hushing her, shooshing her to no avail, and speaking in that wierd, lilting, mechanical chatter. It was deep, and it was soothing to some extent, but she was riled, and once riled, she made it _**known**_. It had always been so, even in her human years. hough it had been quite some time since she had reacted in such a...juvenile way. Her body was tense and her limbs whipped the metal around her. Huge fingers clamped down around her, gently holding her down while rumbles of mechanical words cascaded from above. She struggled against the bonds until the hand at her back released her partially, allowing her limited movement. She did continue to struggle, for her legs were pinned with what must have been no effort at all.

There was what sounded suspisciously and absurdly like a sigh, and what she next felt stopped her cold. There was something there, not near her physically, but it was in her head, or her chest, she couldn't tell where it was stronger. She felt..warm, from the inside out, and there was a sense of soothing, flowing into her from somewhere close. With a start, she realized that HE was the one exuding that calm feeling, like it was something long overdue, with an edge of relief she only just caught onto.

It took her a strong streched moment to notice that all her body was limp, relaxed once more against the black hand supporting her against a black chect. She yelped and went to move away once more, but almost collapsed in a heap of boneless metal when the same hum(was it really the same!) started underneath her. Her gave a short chuckle, a deep sound, before going to hush her once more. It seemed to resonate with her, more so than before. It was on the same length as that new spark; that place within her mind and chest. It reached out for that strange new comfort, and was rewarded for it with a sort of inward embrace that soothed the burn of loneliness from the inside out so much like a salve on a bad burn.

These tears were new to her, and plipped slowly down her chin onto the plates below her. He seemed to kow that they were produced from something breaking within her, a sort of barrier keeping everyone out. That was why he let her continue, smoothing a thumb over her head and down her back. With each stroke along, tension leeched out of the quivering girl. Her tears were slowing soon, and the waves of fear, and anger all but gone with the comfort from the one seeking to calm her down into slumber once more. Truth be told, her own exhaustian was reaching her mind from deep within.

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><p><em><strong>-I had no clue I was writing this till I got it 's why its so long this time^^I hope you guys like it-It's a bit different.-<strong>_

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The girl finally gave a whimper, a single blue tear, and then she was gone into the land of sleep. He sighed, keeping sure to slowly stroke her back, soothing away any nightmare that may have tried to harm her. It was tiring, watching one so youngbeing affected by those who, in essense, gave her life, all so wrongly, but still gave her life and tainted that young life with pain. He hoped that with time, the little one could trust, maybe even be happy among her own, and humans(only those he trusted).

It was unanimously agreed that upon arrival, all human contact with her would not occur at all until either necessary, or the small chance of her finding one herself happened. They did not worry too much about the second option. VERY few humans were ever found for any measurable amount of time in the alien barracks.

He gazed at her, continuing his tranquilizing ministrations even though she was alspeep. He wiped away any remnants of glowing teal tears from the miniscule cheeks. He listened to, and was comforted by, the steady puffs of air cycling her systems. It showed she was real, tangible, a real child, so rare, not seen in millenia, a treasure they had not thought to find in the confines of the test facility. It had been so far from the source of the energy that must have been used to spawn her, they had only thought to look after multiple blips of energy hitting their sensors had been proven not a glitch of wiring or programming.

She was the last child, he realized, and it occured to him that he had been bound to her as such a parent would upon receiving the child they had petitioned for, or had created. It shocked him to his core at the thought that even after encountering not just himself, ut three others, all of which would make better parents than an old warrior would, she had called to him only, unconsciously. But she had done so all the same. He refused that call for all the time she was unwaking, thinking it must have been stress that pushed her to it. But he found her still trying desperately to forge a line between them as parent and child when she had woken for that inperceptively brief time during which she was fed.

He had tried to resist when she snuggled down into him like such a large pillow, and fell into a peaceful slumber which he somehow knew she had not had the chance to partake in in the small span in which she had lived. It had been rough, but he had not let her shackle herself, unknowingly, to him. Him, a great bear of a mech; a hardened warrior who knew his way around a cannon better than any in his team and knew enough ways to kill someone, be they mech of man, to fill more than a thousand books of immense volume. He did not use the vast majority of his dangerous repetoire. His cannons worked just fine.

He could not do that to her. It was so much less than she deserved, and he thought himself unable to give comfort to one so hurt, so small in his hands. But here he was, doing just as he swore he wouldn't - caring for another little one. When he had first gotten her back after her examination(and it hurt that she had to be made unconscious for it to happen - to see such panic at the touch of another), he had protested unendingly. He had recounted his failure to keep his last little one safe as he had been charged with the duty of, shuddering at the memory of yellow armor splashed in bright blue dripping from a silent throat. He was not blamed by the others, he could not get there they said, the battle had kept them bound away from the atrocity as it was committed.

But he knew he had failed to keep him safe, as he believed would be the only way this would play out as well. His leader had held her for a moment, smiled softly(something rare these days...) and gently handed her to him, stating that it was for him as much as it was for her. It was that she had chosen HIM, and any other would end in abject misery for her, he knew it deep down, and had longed to change his reckless ways, change the past days he had raged into the compound, fury driving him ahead of the others, skill and size his defenses from the small beings. Not that he really needed the skill. These were not the same as the other S7. They were not accustom to mech's their size. It was mostly scientists in his way, the guards few and far between. It was easy to walk through without using his cannons. But he had used them anyway, target practice without having to clean up, and it was fun scaring the bejeezus out of the weeklings.

Then he had heard it, a soft keening, close to a whimper, and it definately hadn't been human. He found her, and his shock subsided quickly into rage at the thought of the harm meeting the young one at the hands of... verminlike these "men". To think they were threatening something so precious, so singular in its existance there were no others, something definately once in a lifetime for this scum. He took them out. With joy. Plain and simple, a ballistic, no need for incendiaries. He just got them out of the way and whisked her away from the soon to be cold bodies. She looked lost, and it took a long time to even get her to LOOK at him. It frankly scared him that she had never seen one of her own people, and made a promise not to let it happen again. She would not be alone with humans again. He swore it. Not in the state she was in.

His thoughts on her reaction to his companions were mixed. Part of him was amused when she openly gaped at the brightness of his best friend and team medic. He was also partially sad that she had not seen beings such as them before, being one(albeit a young one) herself. His reaction was much stronger when she shied away from them, and was furious when she was plucked right from his hand like so many papers or datapads or a weapon. her struggle and ensuing shrieks of fright echoed in his miind. It was not something he wished a repeat of, and was determined to make it impossible to occur again. His heart wrenched when all fell silent as her body went limp.

That was the last time he had seen her that day until the exam was over and done with. He'd been looking at the night sky then, memories his last charge coming to mind. She was placed into his hands, and he was shocked that he could be so absorbed in the past that he had not noticed being snuck up on. There was a moment of realization that they were silently making him her guardian. He exploded into vehement protest, internally over comm lines to ensure the continued rest of the little one. They were utterly calm, explaining that it mattered not that he felt unable to care for her, for she had chosen him, and was not calling for any other with her small soul.

Their parting words were those of comfort, it wold be as good for him as well as for her. He was left with the little one, not his, for he had still not reached back to her, had not allowed her to choose him, for her own good. It would just end with her pain like the last. He sighed, fighting the melody that seemed to only chime for him, a try to lure him to her. He had not yet gone to sleep when she woke the next day.

She shifted around, curling a bit around her middle. He frowned at the show of discomfort, but let it drift from his mind when tiny amber eyes landed on him. They were such a strange color, it was rare for them to be any color other than red or blue or maybe the occasional green eyed one. But brown in any shade or form was never known. It only seemed to be one more thing to endear her to him, causing hthe pull to strengthen that much more.

Now, those orbs were large on him, they held a look of awe, or something akin to surprise at the very least. He could sympathize. She might've thought it all a dream, little did he know how right he was. He had had to restrain her gently when she shot up like a littlt black bullet, and was amused until she turned those eyes on him. Now he was sure that something was going to make him give into that pull, and then he would be her protector; her parent.

He took delight when she had taken a good fill of food, and was equally dismayed that she had obviously not eaten in so long. She drifted off the, laying back and turning into his hand. She was gone in mere moments. He drew her to his chest, and reclinging himself, fell into oblivion.

He had only just woke a bit ago to find the little one struggling against him for all she was worth, making every attempt to get away from him. He had gone straight into a calming hum, something all knew to calm the young ones of their people. It didn't succeed in grabbing her attention. She was screaming, and he was getting calls from the others- what was wrong. He hastily told them of his theory- she was having a night terror. They left them to it, assured that there was no danger present.

He was still rushing to calm her, securing her moving limbs with one hand(so small, too small to be healthy...). It wasn't helping that she seemed caught in a sort of trance; a wave of not thinking, but only feeling. He'd seen many affected by this, emotions stopped up tight breaking loose at last. No thoughts concerning the outside world passed into their mind until the storm had run its course.

He could only continue to speak to her, quietly repeating smooth platitudes until she let him calm her himself. But something was wrong, for one so small, her efforts were seemingly endless. It went on for more than 10 minutes! After this marked time, he knew that without any sort of way to get her attention, she would doubtlessly harm herself in her struggles, fruitless though they may have been.

From the way she continued, he also knew that she would not be giving in any time soon, and that call of hers was like fire. It was burning, screaming for help. It was sadness and anger and a deep loneliness that spoke of fear should she be left alone(all alone) once more. It was so strong that he scarcely had the ability to stop himself from reaching back to her and completing the link. As it was, he only took a few precious moments to think on it, to face it for what it would be and do. It held a horrible risk if he were to fail once more, but if he did not, then she would have a home with him, at the very least a connection to show she was not alone.

It seemed that he had no choice. She did not understand words, though most her age should have understood the language(maybe another glitch from being around solely humans so long?) and the normally soothing hum used on distressed little ones was strangely ineffective. He heaved a sigh... and... gave... in.

The reaction was instantaneous, _**his**_ little one quieted right down. It was so much easier to calm her down now, to give her comfort and smooth out the frayed edges of her emotions. She was so torn up at her core- what had they done her! A flash of fury almost made it to her, but long known skills came back as though he had always had the need for them.

He knew as soon as he let it happen what the others had told him was true. She was fractured- inside, and she was only connected to him. There was no second call- for the other parent. It was something to worry about. But a small whimper drew him from his thoughts and worries to an external one.

She tried to draw away from him, obviously confused at her own sudden change in demeanor(had she really not known of her own call!) but was drawn gently back by the now highly effective hum emitted from within him. He was joyous when she took the comfort for what it was- an offer to let the emotions go, and she started to shed tears in earnest.

She appeared bothered by the tiny droplets running down her face, as though they were betraying a sort of inner wall; slipping past to reveal her true pain. He used an equally calming show of support of this betrayal, letting her cry out all she had to, while running a finger over tense black back plating.

This was where he came full circle, coming out of his reverie of just happened events. The review had not taken long, only some minutes, but when it was over, an exhaustion came over him, steeping his mind in a familiar haze of sleep. he shifted, pulling his, yes, _**his**_ little one now, closer to him. She accepted the warmth he provided, curling firther into him, and sighed contently. He smiled gently, also content, and let himself slip into slumber.

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><p><em><strong><span>~~!~~!~~<span>**_

_**Hehe. Sorry about the late update. There have been lots of storms lately(its monsoon season here in Arizona-it came early this year!) so I've been playing in teh rain and at my friend's house(wow, I sound so juvenile...) But it's been fun being outside in the whipping wind and heavy rain!**_

_**Plus, I had alot of this typed, and then the computer shut off. Without warning. And I hadn't saved yet. . But I'm saving Now! And updating!**_

_**Onward! This is my last blurb. I haven't got a SINGLE review on an chapter past 6, which is a bit disconcerting when I have 9 chapters up. Is something wrong? Anyone even reading this? I'm a bit scared to know, so can SOMEONE please lemme know what they think?Hell, flame me, but let me know what you think.I'm a big girl, I can take the heat. Thanks!-Neko**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**I haven't been updating as I should! I'm quite ashamed! But I have school now, and its hard in junior and senior classes! But I get to mess with all the freshman, and gape at all the lil cuddly ones! AWWW, so cute! **_

_**I suggest you go read **_**Grab It By The Horns, by Mercedes Wolfcry! **_**It is my absolute favorite TF story right now, and it not only has the girl tunrs into sparkling premise, but its also a girl goes into TF universe, and she is definately not a MARY Sue! Farthest thing from it actually!I've laughed my ass off, and I've cried my eyes out reading it. Please check it out!**_

_**Upon posting, I found this to have new reviews on it!(For whatever reason, my email alerts aren't working...) and after reading them, I was so filled with warmth! Thank you guys! This chatre is dedicated to Lunar Mist and Just Another Random!**_

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><p><em><strong>A Glance: Chapter 11 Standard Edit (Completed 9-1-11)<strong>_

The world came into focus bright and quick and all at once. Her eyes took in the room once more, confirming that is was the same cavernous space from her memory. The night before came to the front of her mind and she reviewed the night quickly. There was sleep, and then confusion and waking, and then... hmm...the space the memory occupied was blank until she concentrated. She wished for a moment that she hadn't. She had thrown a full blown, all out tantrum. She had no idea why but the more she thought, the more she thought it made an irrational sort of sense. Meaning, she saw there even without realizing it. There had to be one because she never _not_ had a reason for throwing a hissy fit.

She looked farther forward, and noticed then the way she had been handled by her watcher. Hehad handled her gently, like a child. Oh dear... she wasn't a child, was she! But the more rushed she got, the mnore it all clicked into place. They all moved cautiously, and spoke softly to her, from all two times she'd been around any of them. She was certainly held like a child, aloft from the ground and close to the body. From the way she was acting, there was no surprise that they thought that. She entertained the notion of trying to make it clear that she was no baby, but they didn't seem to know English, and it wasn't like she herself could speak it... As it was, as soon as the thought entered her mind, the air suddenly left her in a rush. It felt like she'd run a few miles nonstop and was now gasping for breathe. So it seemed like her instincts were screaming and even beating the fact into her that revealing her human past now was _"Bad Idea #1"_. That was definately out then.

Turning away from the night's events for a bit, she changed her focus to fulfilling her original goal, getting down, even briefly. She poked at the small knot of feelings foreign to her within her core and felt it flare a little to swath in warmth that almost put her back to sleep. Almost. She clung to consciousness and was surprised whent he feeling receded back into a tight ball. She resisted the urge to prod again, for the first tough had been accompanied by a tightening around her body, like a hug from her sleeping guard. She really didn't want a repeat of the other day, even though she had little belief that she even _could_ do that again, so she halted her internal exploration.

Testing her bonds, the girl shifted and wiggled a bit in place. Shifting lead to a movement mirrored by her fellow, but wiggling did breed results, however miniscule. Refusing to succumb to frustration once more, she squrimed ore and gained some more freedom. It really was like squirming out of a too warm blanket, except the blanket loosen as much at her movements.

Once she had her legs out a good deal, almost passed her knees, she had no trouble gently prying her lower limbs free from the slackened grip of the hand that had kept her pinned for a number of hours. She turned around on the huge chest and surveyed her height and any possible routes down to the floor. There on the right was a way down, a climb down and over the mech's arm would be needed, but so be it. She wasn't gonna jump that far, non human or no.

She had to crawl carefully over the armor covered being, and she did it softly and as quietly as possible. That didn't go too badly, since she was slow and cautious. the actual climbing down the mech like a rock climber was another story. With every movement downward it sounded like pans clanged together where she set her hand or foot. She worried that he would wake each time she moved. try as she might, she couldn't stop the noise!

Time slowed down when, still a ways up at six or seven feet, her hand slipped mid shift. It was very uncomfortable, and she knew that with any move she would tumble down. Looking up at her hand, and making up her mind quickly, she took a deep breathe, and let go. The only sound was a grunt of pain upon her landing and the raucous smash of metal hitting the floor. The sound reverberated throughout the cavernous room in a flash, and it continued for a few minutes before finally dying into a fade out.

Her eyes flew to the sleeping (hopefully) behemoth near by. he still appeared to be unconscious, but appearances could be deceiving. She absently wondered how he _hadn't_ heard it. Hell, they probably heard it in China! Days (or rather nights) from her human life of sneaking around the house taught her that even though it may have sounded loud, the effect was lost on sleeping people. Plus, the quiet of the night always made things sound louder than they actually were.

She hauled herself to her feet and was glad that the concrete ground was firm underfoot. It much easier to move around on nice hard ground than on a living being. Her footsteps were light and madde little sound as she trekked across the room -hall- to the door. Once there, she gaped at the sheer size of the entrance. But there, almost hidden in the shadow of the mech sized door, was a smaller one, about the size of a human. Perfect. A flush of fear hit her like a breeze but she knew she was going to explore, humans present or not. This stolid determination did not stop the flutter of fear and shudder of hope that there were in fact no humans on the other side of that wall.

The room exitted to a hall that was very reminiscent of the room she'd just left -gray, concrete, and boring. Hopefully the whole place wasn't as uninteresting. She was almost absurdly pressed against the wall like a spy of some sort, even though she knew that anyone who came into the hallway would immediately and quite easily notice the small black and purple form attempting to be art. The next dilemma was choosing a direction to start off in. Once, in school, she had learned that when leaving their caves, bats always headed to the left. They must've had a reason, and the right side of the hall looked rather ominous anyway, so taking a page from the book of a flying fuzzball, she turned left and set off.

There were doors, small and large alike, lining the hall. She was infinitely more afraid of the smaller doors. A silent plea passed her mind that there were no humans about. The thought that there might have been made her wish she'd just stayed in the room longer, and she almost turned tail and headed back. Only one thing stopped her from following through on the nearly overwhelming urge, and that was curiousity. It was something of a curse and a gift, and it was also a rule. This rule was one she had lived by all her life, and though it had got her into some trouble, she had never gotten more than the reward of kowing was worth. It was something she never regretted, not once. Many people had reprimanded her about the trouble her abundant curiousity bought her and oftentimes quoted the Cat's Curiousity. And each time she heard the familiar words, _"You know, curiousity killed the cat."_ she replied with the rest of the saying, which noone seemed to know, or think she knew, _"But you forget, satisfaction brought it back."_

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><p><strong><em>Oh would you look at that! I'm seemingly back from the dead! Well, I've been busy with school, just like most of you! I can't believe we've already killed 5 weeks of school!(We in AZ over here started school in mid August sooo...) I also lost my muse for a while, and I started up on the chapters again about 2 weeks ago. I now have two more chapters all written out, each one at least twice the length of the original poem form of each chapter(i.e. 1 page is at least 2-3 and more is more, etc.)<em>**

**_Lovings to all of you guys^^ Reviews and faves and such make my day, just like with most other writers! -Neko^^_**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Parents, pissing, me, off. Ugh!You can thank them for this not being out today(10-3) because they insisted on draggin' me across town for a phone charger when they could've dropped me and lil bro at home. Then I could've typed this some more!**_

_**Anywho, venting aside, I adore the comments I did get, and I encourage them, even if to say "Change this? Maybe swap this?Throw this story in the incinerator?" Time to type~Naruto pose~ Wow, haven't done that since I actually watched Naruto(more than 2-3 years ago). **_

_**Warning: TWO cuss words. Can you handle the heat?**_

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><p><em><strong>A Glance: Chapter 12 Standard Edit(Completed 9-2-11)<strong>_

She passed the first few doors by, cautiously in case one might open to spew forth a human. Plus it was never any fun to just systematically explore. It was all about the randomness and seeing what, by chance, was seen. The first few doors were to be saved for last, to save a prize for the end and also to have a reason to find the way back.

The first door to catch her interest as she passed was huge, and only the second such door she'd happened upon. Unlike the other door she had seen, this one had no human sized door. It was just the oversized one. The fact that there was no human door pinted to an all mech residency. Without humans around. None. That was good. Sounded like the perfect place to start. She should have known that it was too good to be true.

On her approach, small though she was, the door slid aside to accommodate her entrance. It only took a peek within to send her careening away as though she'd been whipped and to the side of the door. Inside was a mech who was as conspicuous as the sun was. it was the giant eyesore who had knocked her out the night(or was it two?) before. That impromptu nap automatically put him on her bad side, if not her utter shit list. It also put him into the first of the set of categories used by her to rate the 'Bad' level of a person. He was a level two, the second highest level. _**[Anyone who can tell me what the whole 'Bad' level thing is from will get a cyber cookie!]**_

She made it to the wall just in time, because barely a second or two passed before he turned ont he spot to stare at where she had just been standing. She prayed to whatever gods weren't ever listening that he hadn't spotted her, her eyes so tightly squeezed shut that it almost hurt. Whatever gods weren't usually listening apparently weren't going to start anytime soon, it seemed. After a tense few seconds of feverish not prayer, footsteps sounded the movement of the one inside the still open room. Belatedly she realized that moving away so that the door would close would've probably helped him think she was gone, or better yet, had never been there in the first place.

It was too late now. She was there, he was coming, and she would surely die upon discovery. The blunt steps grew closer still and a shiver of fear and anxiety passed through her. He stepped through the door a moment later and looked around in confusion. he glanced around, and upon seeing nothing, turned. She thought he was dismissing the event as nothing more than coinidence and sighed in relief. 1)This relief was unfounded and 2)sighing was a bad idea. She should've remembered, "When in doubt, stay quiet." It'd worked before. He decided to look down and lo and behold, he saw her. His eyes widened owlishly and he made a noise, or said something, though all she caught was a low and slow warble with a pinched chirp stuck in the middle.

He took a step forward towards her,a nd she reacted as she had once been taught to as a child. She screamed loud and clear and definately high pitched. She moved with a speed the older mech didn't think her capable of in the opposite direction, down the hall further. She heard him take off after her, and though he had stood there dumbfounded for a good fifteen seconds, he was bigger. Much bigger, with longer legs. He began to gain and all she thought of was to get away.

The halls passed in a blur of gray and black, and she took so many turns she knew that she would be hopelessly lost if she ever managed to lose her persuer. Speaking of him, in the meantime, he was keeping up well, barely, with the black and purple little one. He followed with legs and voice, calling for her to stop; to wait, that there was nothing to fear. The calls fell upon deaf ears. and they were indeed deaf to the quick, changing language that was spoken out frantically. If anything it egged her on, pushed her forward as if physically so, and made her run all that much faster in escape.

The chase gave way some minutes later. By this time, her frame felt like it was on fire, and she was pretty sure she could suck in all the air in the place and still be running hot enough to quick fry an egg on her armor. Her body shook with the strength of the fans trying fruitlessly to cool her overheating. And still her major problem remained. She was still being followed and though the yelling after her had slowed to a shout every once in a while, the footfalls beating after had never faultered in their intense rhythm.

She couldn't keep this pace up for much longer, and she knew for a fact that her stalker could. Her body was actually starting to hurt, and each step was fire in her legs. Why had it set in so soon? They had only running for a few minutes. She cursed her minute frame, what as a human was in near peak condition was like running as a child as a robot!

Suddenly she couldn't think on it anymore because a flash of blue ahd jetted in front of her and ground was no longer underfoot. Why did they all have to be so damned tall?

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><p><em><strong>Not much to say, other than I actually managed to type this in less than an hour! Woot! Hope you like it, and remember, reviews and even flames feep me burnin' bright! -Neko^^<strong>_


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